ABCOPAD Life! Blog

Upper Merion BCWelcomes Pastor Sam

Pastor Sam Geiger was recently called to be the minister at the Upper Merion Baptist Church in King Of Prussia. Pastor Sam is so excited about ministry opportunity. Please keep both Pastor Sam and the church family as they launch into ministry together.

Congrats to Pastor Chris

Pastor Chris not only serves Prospect Hills BC but is also representing Riverside Association on the ABCOPAD Regional Board. Congrats to this partner in ministry. Grateful for the innovative ideas he has bring ministry and business together to share the gospel and be a missional presence in his community.

LLC Southwest

The Southwest PA LLC (which includes pastoral leaders from seven different churches across two associations) met for a time of sharing, learning, and encouragement. The day began with a time for catching up on personal and family news as well as in the lives of our congregations and the region. Then David Earnest presented what he had gleaned from the recent Pastors' Retreat themed "Small Church, Big Deal" to complement their ongoing study of the book, "Small Church Essentials".

New Bern Mission Trip

Volunteers from Moreland Baptist Church and Hepburn Baptist Church partnered with Fuller Center Disaster Rebuilders in New Bern, North Carolina. A community of about 30,000 people, it was one of the areas hardest hit by both high winds and torrential flooding caused by Hurricane Florence in September 2018. The team worked hard rebuilding mucked-out homes.

Kraihanzel at EU

The Eastern University community kicked off the last day of classes with a special celebration of the seniors. Students, faculty, and staff gathered at Senior Chapel on Walton Terrace to celebrate the class of 2019 with a time of worship, communion, and fellowship. Ben Kraihanzel one of our ABCOPAD Regional Ministry Associates for Student Ministries spoke during Chapel at Eastern University.

Thank You, Pastor Frank

At this year's ABCOPAD Pastors Retreat....

Pastor Chris Davis (President Of the ABCOPAD Ministers Council) invited the group to offer words of encouragement and thanksgiving for our Regional Executive Pastor, Rev. Dr. Frank Frischkorn, celebrating 25 years of Regional Ministry. Pastor Frank received a standing ovation, and many took a few minutes to share the impact Pastor Frank’s ministry on their lives.

Nothing Wasted

Through the weeks of Lent, Pastor Mike Poindexter [Pleasant Community Church, Warren] preached a series of messages called "Nothing is Wasted." He challenged the congregation to believe that transformation still can happen! ...that God has a plan even when we don't see it! ----- Look at what happened in the sanctuary, week-after-week :

March 10: To begin the series, and to emphasize the point, those attending were greeted in the sanctuary by a platform that was cluttered with junk. For sure, sometimes life is a mess!

March 17: The “mess” in church changed a bit this week for the series “Nothing is Wasted”. Pastor Mike taught the story of the woman at the well from John 4. He pointed out relational, racial, and romantic brokenness. He also pointed out her response ...salvation and transformation wasn’t just for her. but she shared that with others. (see the water flowing from her bucket!)

March 24: Week 3 in the “Nothing is Wasted” series had folk looking at the story of Thomas. Pastor Mike told how God can use and redeem doubt. That it’s sometimes valuable to linger in doubt. And he challenged the congregation....do we allow room for doubt, or do we try to fix and change those who are doubting. The “mess” on the platform continues to change.

March 31: This past week focused on the story of the Woman at Bethany from Matthew’s Gospel. Pastor Aaron Reinard talked about how God can make beauty from brokenness.

April 7: The “mess" changed again. Pastor Mike pointed to four stories in scripture of Peter’s fear. He reminded the congregation how fear gets in the way of following fully.

April 14: This past week was a LARGE dramatic change in the pile of mess. Note that everything you see was present last week....you just weren’t looking at it. Pastor Mike told of how sometimes when things get messy we don’t see the potential beauty or what God could possibly do with it.

April 21: Happy Easter! The "Nothing Wasted" series is completed, and the mess underwent a pretty dramatic transformation! The message of the gospel: God can still transform mess into beauty!

FBC Reading Installation

First Baptist Church, Reading, gathered in celebration for the Installation Service of Rev. David Turley as he became the next pastor.

Pastor Turley and his wife Leslie were surrounded by their family from West Virginia for the celebration...it was a beautiful afternoon of worship as we thanked God for the good things He was doing in the ministry of FBC, Reading.

The First Baptist church facility is home to four other worshiping congregations, and three of the other congregations leaders took part in the service.

Factoryville Cross Walk 2019

First Baptist Church of Factoryville held its annual Cross Walk on Good Friday. Volunteers carried the cross along College Avenue and read the seven last words of Christ along the way. En route they sang "Were You There?"

Who Knows?

Servant Leaders in Parchment Valley

A great team of volunteers (about 50 members!) from the ABCOPAD Centre Association made their way to the Parchment Valley Conference Center in West Virginia. Talk about productivity! The team worked for seven busy days!

Completing numerous painting projects...

...as well as caulking and sealing the bunk houses where campers will be staying the season.

A couple members of the team worked on the electrical system at the gym...

...while others readied the restrooms at Hill Hall.

A cleaning crew went to work scrubbing floors, washing the windows, cleaning the carpets, and shoveling out the ashes in the fireplace.

Even more electrical work, painting, cleaning.

Everything is looking and smelling so clean and fresh.

The ABCOPAD Mission Team from the Centre Association had a chance to work outside as the sun came out, creating a warm and refreshing breeze. The team did quite a few outdoor projects including repairing fences, painting in the parking lots and general spring cleaning.

It was great opportunity to serve our sister region [WVBC] and help get their conference and camp facility ready for a new year of ministry where kids make decisions for Jesus and lives are changed.

Pizza! Pizza!

There was a delicious spaghetti dinner served at the Middlebury Baptist Church. The church family gathered for this annual fundraiser traditionally supporting AB Women’s Mission, including White Cross.

It was great seeing the fellowship hall full of people from the church and community all spending time with one another and enjoying a scrumptious meal.

Dessert? Apparently one is not enough!

And... young servant volunteers waiting the tables! Great job, guys!!!

ABWM Southeast Spring Gathering

Throughout the AB Women’s gathering at Parkesburg Baptist there was wonderful music and delicious food.

Sue Fitzgerald (FBC Lancaster) led the singing. It was such a fun day just spending time with so many friends.

Sally Perry (FBC Lancaster) share about the Waters Of Blessings mission project and the Cyberbox mission project that took place in Nicaragau through the ministry of AMOS.

Sue MacDonald (Parkesburg Baptist), having recently returned from a mission trip to Puerto Rico, talks about the disaster recovery work following Hurricane Maria and this year’s AB Women’s project helping the church at Masas rebuild.

The ladies of Parkesburg offered cakes, fruit, pastries, and a great lunch.

Many, many thanks to these ladies who have done so much to raise funds and support for the Mission and Mission Trips of ABCOPAD. All are awesome partners in ministry, being mission advocates in their local congregations.

Lent at FBC Malvern

Vision Fellowship at First Baptist Church, Malvern, observed the beginning of Lent with the first of this year’s series of Lenten Luncheons. Initiated in 1984 by Pastor Nathaniel Jones with his wife Virginia, now retired, these luncheons continue to be a favored tradition. Each Wednesday during Lent, volunteers provide homemade soup and accompaniments. (They also provide clean-up! Let’s not forget that!)

The church offers not only food, but spiritual nourishment.Pastor Bob Stradling arranges for ministersfrom different churches in the Malvern area to speak each week.Prayer, hymn-singing and special music presentationsadd to the flavor of the luncheons.

This year Pastor Bob chose The Lord is My Shepherd to be the theme. He featured it in this first luncheon by singing and playing his guitar in a musical version of the 23rd Psalm. Afterward, he delivered a masterful overview of Psalm 23 and its connection to Jesus, thus defining its relevance as the guide for Lent.

La Paz Mexico 2019

First Baptist Church of Lansdale shared stories and pictures of their recent mission trip to La Paz, Mexico.

"Had a great day today visiting three different churches. We visited Crossroads Church, FBC La Paz and House of God Baptist Church. Pastor Eric preached twice today with the help of a young lady interpreter Amsi."

"We had a fantastic day today. The Lord blessed us with great company and a long days work. We were blessed to help Casa de Dios clean out an foundation behind their church to provide space for kids to play. An amazing day!"

Visiting Immanuel Baptist

Mark Mahserjian Smith writes:

While at Immanuel in Edwardsville, it was fun watching Pastor Jim Quinn use a digital projector for both his children’s message and sermon. Pastor Jim focused on the sanctity of life. During his children’s message Pastor Jim looked at the many women in scripture who prayed to have a child and how God answered their prayers. Pastor Jim continued this theme during his morning message and used technology to share notes with the congregation.

The church has an active Sunday School for both youth and adults. The kids were having fun with their Sunday School lesson and many Valentine’s Day treats while many adults spent the hour digging into the Gospel Of Matthew.

It was great being with so many friends I have met at our Regional Summer Conference and Retreat events. Immanuel Baptist has consistently owned the attendance award at the AB Men’s Retreat, and their award banner hangs proudly in the church.

Many ladies in morning worship told me how much they are looking forward to the Thrive Conference this year. It was great being with these partners in ministry to encourage them.

Multi-tasking!

Rev. David Jones lives near Milton, PA, and most recently he has been (1) doing pulpit supply for churches in the Northumberland Baptist Association. Pastor Dave is (2) an RN doing work in home health care, along with (3) being very active in JMeg Ministries, and (4) a radio announcer for WGRC Christian Radio. It was good to catch up with Pastor Dave and hear about (5) the prison ministry he is currently doing in partnership with a Christian musician. Together they provide a concert and an evangelical message for inmates that has been very well received. It was good getting to visit with this partner in ministry.

Singin' at the Grand Ole Opry

Rev Paul Aiello (Interim, FBC of Beaver Falls) along with four other members of his Greater Cranberry Men’s Barbershop Chorus traveled to Nashville in January to compete with the 65 member Vocal Seniority (District Chorus) on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. They scored an “outstanding” rating.

Happy Retirement

Yep! This is what retirement looks like ---

It's Rev. Garry Zuber and his wife Carol. Pastor Garry recently retired from the FBC Troy and East Troy BC. Carol also retired from her job as a teacher in the Troy school district. The Zubers purchased a new home out in the country not far from downtown Troy.

Pastor Garry continues to serve as one of our ABCOPAD Search Committee Adjuncts and is helping a congregation in the Bradford Baptist Association in a search for a pastor.

Love Unlimited Anniversary

Mark Mahserjian-Smith writes:I had the great joy of joining Love Unlimited and Pastor Willie Anderson and Co Pastor Dorothy Anderson for the church's 18-year anniversary. I was asked to participate in the ordination of Deacon and Deaconess Daryl and Denise Gray, as well as the anointing of 6 members of the church for the Ministry of Helps. It was a wonderful day of celebration and rejoicing, recognizing all that Jesus has done in and through this church. It was also a blessing to see Deacon Daryl and Deaconess Denise’s family gather around them for this recognition of God call to a ministry of service. Both these friends have an tender servant’s heart.

LLC 2019

Across the region, Leadership Learning Communities (LLC) are small groups of pastors gathering together locally to empower each other to have healthy vital relationships personally and professionally.

The Delaware LLC group recently met at the Central Baptist Church. Led by Pastor Jeff Collins (Christ Memorial, Dover), meetings are held at the Central Baptist Church Of Wilmington (Pastor Terrence Keeling). Also Pastor Jeff Evans (New Hope, Broomall) was able to join the group. The team is studying John Piippo’s book the Purpose Driven Church. Following the meeting, the group had lunch and continued the conversation started at the church.

Ordination Service: Rosnibri Abreu

Frank Frischkorn writes:

I had the joy of sharing in the Ordination of Pastor Rosnibri Abreu at FBC, Bethlehem yesterday afternoon. Senior Pastor Dale Miller led the service with a number of Reading Association leaders participating and many more in attendance.

Pastor Mardy von Harten brought the report of the Association Credentialing team and Pastors Ismael Medina and David Hardin led in prayer during the service.

An added blessing was having Dr. Luciano Marquez, the leader of Latino Ministries in ABC of New Jersey share the Ordination vows with Pastor Abreu.

Following the service we had a wonderful fellowship dinner to celebrate the blessing of day!

Kudos to Sue Wilson-Radel

Mark Mahserjian-Smith writes:

It was a joy being in morning worship at the Forest Baptsit Church on Sunday. I had the great privilege to present Pastor Sue Wilson-Radel her ACTS diploma, having completed her education. The congregation applauded and gave Pastor Sue a standing ovation, having fulfilled her commitment to the church to go through the ACTS program.

Pastor Sue and the church family have grown dramatically since her ministry began at Forest almost 10 years ago. Pastor Sue now serves as the Chair of the ACTS Council and is our ABCOPAD Regional Ministry Associate for Women in Ministry. We are grateful for both Pastor Sue and the Forest Baptist Church for their partnership in ministry.

Kudos to DOCTOR Bruce Moses

Pastor Bruce is the minister at the Riverview Baptist Church in New Eagle. Pastor Bruce recently completed a doctrinal program and will be graduating with a Doctor of Biblical Studies degree. Congrats to Rev. Dr. Bruce Moses!

A Working Lunch

Frank Frischkorn had a chance to stop by the Pittsburgh office and spend some time with the best Administrator in the entire world, Denise Veselicky. Our Region is so blessed to have Denise as a member of our ABCOPAD Team. Denise does so much to make ministry possible in coordinating and doing logistics for our many mission teams.

North Hills Baptist Grant Awarded

North Hills applied for a grant to develop a crowd sourcing computer platform to help refugees in the greater Pittsburgh area. The concept is to use crowd sourcing to share needs of immigrants such as food, household items and other resources among those participating in the “crowd” so they can donate whatever is needed. It is an exciting concept linking people with things they want to donate with people new to our country with basic needs.

Mark Mendicino, his wife Amy. and the North Hills Church family are all great partners in ministry!